6 Tips for Running Resiliency.

Being a mom is making me smarter. I read and research about things that I want to teach Brooke and then realize as I am learning about these ‘skills/traits/habits’ that I want for Brooke that I actually need work on them myself!

Resiliency– material’s ability to resume its shape or position after being bent, stretched or compressed.

(Picture from a REALLY bad race for me)

Resiliency is probably one of the most important things we can learn in life. Bad things happen to every single person on earth but how we handle these situations and bounce back is really what determines how happy we are. How we come back from a set-back is so important.

Non-runners don’t always understand how traumatizing/depressing/frustrating running injuries are for us or how doing poorly in a race that we have trained so hard for can be really difficult on us.

Obviously there are way worse things in life that happen than running injuries or having a disappointing race but this is a running (and a food/million pictures of Brooke) blog so let’s talk about resiliency and running.

I was reading an article about ways that we can help teach our children how to be resilient to the bad things in life but let’s apply them to running injuries mkay.

1. If your injury was caused by a mistake in your training (overtraining, not stretching, not fueling properly, too much too soon) then view it as an opportunity to learn how to not make the same mistake again. Realize that sometimes we have to lose a bunch before we start winning. Mistakes and failures are opportunities for us to learn. I think I could officially write a 1,000 page book now about the huge lessons that I have learned personally during different injuries. I think all of us can look back at a hard time in our life and see how much we learned and grew from the experience…. now do that with running the next time you have a set-back.

2. Focus on what you CAN do and don’t focus on what is outside of your control. Stop worrying so much about how long you are going to be injured and how much fitness you are losing because it is out of your control. Do focus on things you can do while you are injured like core work, strength training, stretching, fostering new passions etc. You are in control of your attitude during this time of injury and the things you do to get back healthy and strong.

3. Don’t give up! Remember that 99.9% (I totally made that statistic up) of runners get injured at some point during their running career. It is impossible to avoid all setbacks in life so realize that setbacks are normal and that you can come back to running stronger and smarter!

4.Stop with the perfectionism:) We make mistakes, we aren’t perfect, our bodies aren’t always going to PR and sometimes we quit or get hurt. Our self worth cannot come from being the ‘perfect’ runner and if we think that it does we feel stressed out and overwhelmed. If we realize that we can’t be the perfect runner then when set-backs happen we are able to bounce back much easier!

5. Sign up for another one. If you have a bad race, sign up for another one. First, let your body recover properly but a great way to forget about a bad race is to focus on a new one. I can think of at least 3 races that went VERY poorly and I think every other runner out there can think of at least 1 awful race or run they have had. Realize that it is normal to have a bad race and that we all have them!

6. Praise even your smallest accomplishments. Celebrate the small steps you make in the right direction. When I am positive with myself then it is so much easier for me to bounce back from a hard situation because I am focusing on what I do have, not what I don’t have. We always have two choices: focus on the positive or focus on the negative of the situation….one will make you a lot happier than the other.

Bonus tip: ask people around you for help. Sometimes the best way to get back up from falling is to ask for other people to help us stand up again.

Eugenia Byrne

I haven’t been on a road trip in ages, but I am headed to Oregon in 4 days for a mini vacation (I live in Seattle)..

The only running injury I have had was caused by a pumpkin stem in the middle of the night (don’t leave pumpkins meant for carving in the middle of the kitchen floor for several days before you have time to carve them). I tripped on it in the early morning hours and the stem seriously injured my shin. Running was excruciating, and I couldn’t run for about 3 weeks. I did the elliptical and the stair master to stay in shape :)

Jazz

Steph F

I just ran a pretty bad half marathon this past Saturday and ended up 6 minutes off my PR. Looking back, I think I pushed myself too quickly after having Morton’s neuroma surgery at the end of Feb….I was running 3 1/2 weeks post-op (not doc. approved, I might add) and tried to build my mileage up too quickly to get back into the swing of things, but as a result I felt sluggish and tired my entire training cycle. As luck would have it, I also came down with a respiratory infection before the race and literally coughed my way through the entire 13 miles…it was pretty awful and I would have had my husband pick me up, but couldn’t stand the thought of my girls seeing my quit!

That said, my only real tip is DON”T RUSH IT when coming back from an injury. Cross-train and strength train and do whatever else keeps you sane and uninjured, but don’t push the running too hard or too soon. I’m taking a couple weeks off now to finally give my body the rest that I probably should have given it months ago :)

I am currently battling a running injury and at the time it does seem like life couldn’t get any worse. Once I am better, it will be hard to face that I can’t just jump right bak into my double digit runs but I also don’t want to end up back where I am now. Sometimes injuries are a blessing in disguise and all we need is a little rest!

This is such good advice. I”m currently running very little due to an IT band and I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t had a few melt downs. But I keep reminding myself that it’s not the end of the world and to wait and be patient for it to heal instead of trying to jump back in.

My first marathon, just a couple of weeks ago, was a tough race for me. I trained really hard and completely sucked it up during the race. It took me until now to feel like pushing myself at all. Sometimes what I need is a little rest to be able to keep going after a rough race.

I had a super bad race 2 years ago. I was attempting my first 50-miler, and I had NO idea what I was getting myself into. It was super hard, super painful, super discouraging, and I ended up dropping out just 2.5 miles from the finish. This weekend I just finished my 3rd 50-miler, and I am proud to say that I was the second place female! Resiliency: 1, Repeat DNF: 0 :)

I wish I could agree that it was all guts and humility, but mainly it was just complete and utter apathy. :) My DNF was mainly due to inexperience…I’d never had a bad race before and didn’t have the mental fortitude to tough it out when things got really rough. I lost focus, stopping caring and didn’t see any point in going any further. Looking back, I wish I had forced myself to just walk those last few miles, but at the time I felt like I couldn’t take another step. It was a learning experience, and I’ve come a long way since then. Thanks for your comments!

Melissa

Girlfriend… I have never run 47.5 miles at once in my life!! Do you know how incredible you have to be to ever run that far!? The fact that you didn’t do that last 2.5…. well, I’m in awe of what you DID do! And a huge congrats for trying again and doing a 50 miler!

I live with a man who will (possibly) define himself as “not the runner he used to be” for the rest of his life. I really hope he doesn’t, but that’s his choice. Look, if I ran a sub-3 marathon once upon a bit ago and couldn’t now due to injuries, it might be a challenge.

Here’s what I instill in him…..(or he politely listens to me as I’m his wife ;-)

*Be honest with yourself. Know who you are now.

*Be gentle with yourself. Beating yourself up probably isn’t going to make you run faster.

*Go back to trail running. (This works well for the hub who spent 13 years in the Army and loves being in the woods. It triggers a part of his life that is very positive-thereby letting go of the uber competitive part.)

*Drink lots of water and eat well. (When your activity is limited, you can always improve your nutrition and help your body that way.)

*Make games out of what you can do. (Jump rope for 30 seconds. 10 push ups. Repeat.)

*Involve your children in your workouts. (Even work out with a kid of any age who loves you and you’ll understand. If not and you like kids, find one and borrow him/her with parental permission of course!)

*Visualize yourself being healthy or at a certain physical point.

*Accept that some things you cannot change. (Look, as much as my hub wants the 9″ of titanium and screws out of his right leg that hold his leg to his foot, it’s not going to happen. If it does- we need to get new wedding rings. Ours are titanium in honor of this reality. :-)

Hope this helps.

Oh, and the last road trip was to the Tetons and Yellowstone. I’m much looking forward to this weekend’s though… to Bear Lake for the Bear Lake Monster Ride.

This post couldn’t have come at a more perfect time, I ran in a terrible race yesterday. Well the race wasn’t terrible, but my performance was. I have another one in three weeks so I will try to do better for that one.

That pic of you and Brooke stretching is the best picture ever. Totally frame-able

Joy

My worst two races were two marathons I couldn’t do in 2011 and 2012 because of injury. That stunk BIG time. I’m now back to doing half marathons and getting stronger doing those. Maybe one day, if my injuries stay at bay, I will attempt a full marathon. I’m trying to be smart about it (and not let it get to me that it seems like everyone in the world can do a marathon except for me).

That photo of you and Brooke stretching/doing abs is priceless! What a great shot.

Where was the last place that you went on a road trip?
-Charlotte, NC to visit my BFF. :)

Have you had a really bad/hard race yet? Which one?
-I will always consider the Run for Freedom 5k that I did last July 4th to be the worst! It was so hot and humid that morning. I ended up getting heat cramping and had to walk for a part of the race. Though, I did got an age group award. Who knew!

Any tips to add about bouncing back from an injury or bad race?
-Low expectations. Do not anticipate running at the same level you were before the injury. Keep it simple!

I think having babies forces you to be resilient too! You can train as long as possible through pregnancy, but it is still frustrating when it takes your body so long to get back to the miles and speed you were doing before.

My worst race ever was a 5k at BYU. It was my first organized race and I knew nothing about prerace fueling. I had a huge bowl of grape nuts and milk minutes, and I mean minutes before the race. I had to run hunched over for almost the whole race! Haha, my intestines were not very happy. :-)

Totally agree with you on motherhood making us more resilient! When I get frustrated with my post-baby training & times, I just try to remember that my body just made a miracle! Then I’m not so hard on myself!

It really helped me to view my stress fracture as something all runners deal with. While everyone may not get a stress fracture, they may get injured at some point in their career. It’s that simple. An injury is not forever!
I used it as motivation to come back stronger and more resilient :) than ever!

Janae… you are seriously my best friend! ;)
This was a great post and I really needed to hear it! I’ve been bogged down by a stupid knee injury and it’s super frustrating not being about to run and needing to take time to actually heal and then slowly building back up… I rehurt (is that a word?) my knee because when it was starting to actually feel better I went out for a 5k run and thought I could pick up where I left off… not.true.
So thanks for this post!! I’m saving the link so I can reread it! :)
BTW, LOVE the pic of you and Brooke on the beach and stretching together! so cute! :)

I love the picture of you and Brooke doing abs… Super cute. Last road trip was to Arizona. And the best advice I can give is patience is the key to success and overcoming obstacle. We will fall down more times than anybody in running. You jut have to get back up and take it one day at a time. You can’t rush perfection ;)

I know when in coming back from injury sometimes it hard to stick to the recovery plan and listen to your body when you just really want to amp your mileage back up. Although, after really paying attention to how my body feels, I feel better on my runs and I’m stronger than ever.

This post came at a great time. I tore my ACL playing soccer in April and just had surgery 4 weeks ago tomorrow. I am a runner who happens to play soccer so this was devestating. I was crying on the sidelines thinking about how I would have to cancel all my races for the year, not because of pain but because I couldn’t run.

I should be able to start running again in September I believe but even that is going to be running for a minute, walking for a minute. It’s something but meh. So for now I am focusing on what I can do, which is biking and weight lifting. It is definitely frustrating at time but I just think back to two weeks ago when I couldn’t even bike.

Macalla

My recent injury was caused by pure stupidity. I wore flip flops to walk 2 miles to our pool. They are the plastic, tear into your feet kind and they sure did to mine!! Two weeks later I thought I was ok to go out and now my blister on the bottom of my foot looks incredibly suspicious.

My last road trip was Kentucky this weekend.
I havent had a really bad or hard race… I am sure the more races I run, I will find one!
However, all of the races are “hard”, because I try so hard to get better times.
No injuries for me either. I hope (knock on wood) that I dont have any injuries! I mean I have had shin splints and aches and pains, but think thats normal. I try to not over due it, Stretch before and after and listen to my body.
OK real quick note: Your daughter is so precious! I love to look at your posts and adore that smile of hers :-) OK Have a great evening!

Great post & so relevant for running & life in general! I especially love your advice to focus on the positive. So true that you’ll be much happier that way. Another highly researched statistic – 99.9% of life is what you make it. If life throws you lemons, make some lemonade! Happiness is within our reach, if we just choose it!

Thanks for this post! Having an injury is really frustrating, especially with a big race coming up. It’s sooo important to listen to your body though. When I’m feeling pain (usually in my knee), I’ll take it easy for a few days with just cross training, extra ice and TLC. Love your advice to be positive at all times :D

For my last half I was shooting for sub-2- I had trained really hard and felt more than capable. By mile 9 my legs felt like lead. I did a bit of walk/running and really gave up on myself, I even ended up crying. I ended up finishing at 2:00:04 which was SO depressing, just to know how close I was killed me. I beat myself up for a bit, then celebrated my new PR and found new races to sign up for. All you can do is keep trying to get better.

I really loved this post!

T.O.

Ah resiliency! I just had a disappointing race a few months ago and took it out on everyone around me (whoops). But then I decided to do something about it by changing up my training and it really paid off in my race last week. It feels good to be back on top of my game again but it’s the bad runs that make you appreciate the good runs even more.

Love the tips . Rest is a big one. Don’t get back to it too soon. I have taken a road trip with just Elijah as a baby a couple times 3-4 hour away trips. They’re fun! I haven’t been injured yet, but continuously deal with hip flexor weakness/tightness. My worst race was my first half where my back was aching so bad at mile 10 I had to start doing an interval run/walk for the last 5k.

Breanna

My worst race so far was at the OC Half Marathon last month. I had never experienced cramps in all my training and they set in about mile 10.5 of the race for me. I walked from that point to the finish and it was so devastating :( I was really sad over it and on my next few runs I just couldn’t get into it.

I don’t have any new tips to add because the ones you listed are amazing but I would definitely reiterate the “sign up for another one”. After the OC incident I signed up for another half marathon (Laguna Hills) on a whim (the day before) and ended up PRing and loving running again.

I hope you have an amazing time while you’re down here! And if you need some company on a Yogurtland trip, let me know ;)

Megan

Janae, I have to admit I sometimes skim over the running heavy posts because I haven’t really been a “runner” in ages (and I do realize that’s the main focus of your blog..I’m here for you, Brooke and the dessert :)) but I just have to say, this post was so well done. It is so honest, helpful and you can tell that you’ve really LIVED your own advice. The positivity thing, in particular, I think really holds strong because you are SO positive here in this space no matter what’s going on. I love you and your blog, just had to tell you that!! (Also, great food and great baby you’ve got going on here)

Such a great post!! My worst race to date was the Jacksonville marathon in 2012. I was injured going into the race (from overtraining) and I went out way too fast in the race and ended up hitting it wall at mile 13. I had to walk some of the race and got sick to my stomach several times during the race. I took a lot of time off after that race to recover and heal and when I started training again I was so discouraged. Not only physically discouraged from being out of shape but also mentally discourage from the awful race

LOVE THIS POST!!!! I couldn’t agree more with everything you said!! Thanks for your positivity and great reminders! I definitely struggled with trying to run through an IT band injury. It’s great to look back on the tough times and learn something. PS- that pic with you and Brooke stretching- cutest thing ever.

I’ve really changed my running outlook and habits as a result of this miserable, months long fracture disaster. Now that I’m back, I’m more focused on staying healthy long term than pushing it training for a race in the short term. I’ve added a lot of strength and stretching, even though it takes up time I’d rather spend running. I’m sure this is doing bad things for my speed, but good things for my resiliency!

Love love love this post!!! Absolutely what I needed to read today. I’ve been trying my hardest to cross train and not run. After my 2nd full marathon on May 18th I was blessed with plantar fasciitis. It’s racing season and all of the local towns are hosting their fun runs!! It is killing me to not run :( So thank you for this much needed post!

To produce a fulelr perception of area, a much additional thorough elevated education experience and too to raise the complete prevailing from the university. All the rage his peculiar lexis, Robert Zimmer, President of the University associated with Chicago.

Really great tips! I’m dealing with a knee injury right now. I have older coworkers asking if I will now give up running because you know the running is to blame and of course is bad for me. Nope they just don’t understand.

Jill

I am struggling thru a stress fracture and tendonitis in my foot/ankle. I loved this topic! I really need to work on my attitude and motivation. Life is not over because I can’t run for awhile. I need to find satisfaction in other forms of exercise. And, like you said, I made a mistake that I knew better than to make. I won’t do it again!

I just love this post!!! So important for running, sports and life in general! Thank you for the reminder!!

Last road trip was up to Tofino! Most beautiful place on earth I think :)

My first half marathon was great but after it I hit a rut of feeling like I had nothing to work towards anymore. (I know different than an injury but it was pretty hard for me!) and then right after that I broke my arm snowboarding and was out of everything for a while. To be honest it’s just been the last 3 months that I’ve come back from that period and consistently run and exercised. Sometimes it’s more mental than anything but losing a close friend recently has made me realize how lucky I am to be alive and healthy and able to run. I don’t want to waste that! Training for my second half now and hoping to do a marathon sometime next year in honor of my friend.

Miranda

I’m still only a newbie to running but I’ve already picked up an injury! I seem to be recovered now and am training to run a non-existant 10k run as that’s the furthest I had got to before I became injured. 2 weeks of not running seemed like an eternity!! My next race is a 5k race for life in July (but I’m walking that) and then I’ve got a 1/2 marathon in October eeeek.

I had a really bad half marathon last year- it was only my second one ever, my ipod died before I crossed the start line, it was soo hot, they ran out of water, I had to go to the bathroom at mile 3,I was wearing too many clothes and had to strip at the side of the course, people were passing out at the side of the course and I got a really slow time, but I finished, I didn’t walk, and I helped a stranger finish their first half by running alongside them! Always got to look at the positives!

katie

I’ve had several bad races. Last year I ran the Wineglass marathon the weekend after my grandfather died and it was miserable. This year, I was injured and tried to run the Delaware marathon and only managed to finish the half.

Paula Timon

Thanks for this post. I have been struggling with bone marrow edema/SFX in my heel since February. You are so right – non-runners just don’t get how depressing it is to not be able to run. I am having dreams about running! Realizing that this injury is going to keep me out a lot longer than I thought. You are really encouraging me to hang in there – thanks. And your overall upbeat attitude is wonderful – I tell people about you all the time!

Colleen

Sarah G.

I have only had one major debilitating injury so far (*knock on wood*) and it was a tibial stress fracture I acquired last fall as a result of overtraining/worn out shoes (but mostly overtraining). I was still a new runner – and still am, in some ways – and thought I could just run a half marathon and then continue to increase my mileage and try to race another one 8 weeks later without any rest or lowered mileage at all in between. WRONG. It sucked. I was out from running for 4 MONTHS. Apparently I am a slow healer. It was a tough pill to swallow but a lesson I won’t soon forget, that’s for sure. My tip is to be patient, listen to the doctors even though you just want to hate them and do the complete opposite of what they tell you to do, and focus on what you CAN do – like you said. For me, that meant crosstraining my little heart out!

dRC

Great post! I really needed to hear this today. I’m dealing with an injury that I while lifting weights to help become a stronger runner, but it’s really impacting my half marathon training and REALLY doing a number on my mind. I’m so freaking discouraged right now. Your post helped me feel a lot better this morning. Thank you!

MartinaNYC

My last road trip was to Ohio (5 hours away) to visit my best friend from College. I was able to road trip with my other best friend from College so it was a double catch up with my friends. I had a really terrible race back in May, the MD Half Marathon. It was my fault for not sticking to my training plan at the same time I should have just not run it. I really beat myself up over it and still a little upset at myself for not training hard enough. The best way to bounce back is get back to training and race again. There is no better pick up then kicking butt in another race and using the bad races motivation to train harder.

As for bad races, I haven’t had absolute awful ones, but I have some bad ones.
I got a muscle cramp 2 weeks out from a half marathon in April. It took 2 weeks to recover from it. I did however run my best half, cause I went in with the attitude of ‘have fun’.
When I did ‘run the gap’ i ran on a seriously upset belly (wheat belly, felt bloated for days). I still got a good time, but overall I just felt crappy.

For me, even though I might have a crappy run, I just reinforce to myself, don’t worry about the time, go slow just finish, you can do it, and that helps.

Rob

I am currently dealing with an injury I incurred during my last marathon. I probably didn’t train enough, and I think I tore a muscle (although now I’m afraid it could be worse…) I haven’t run for 5 weeks now, and I don’t remember the last time I went that long without a run. This was the 1st time I ever did 2 marathons in one year, and I think that has something to do with it.

These are such great tips! I’ve been having back pain off and on and have been trying to focus on core strength, but everytime I ramp training up by a little I get a few aches. I’ve never had a serious injury but I already know I’d be full of antsiness trying to get right back out there.

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